


Rules and Their Loopholes

by LadyBrooke



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Incest, Loopholes, Working Against Existing Power Structures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-17 06:11:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20616287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyBrooke/pseuds/LadyBrooke
Summary: There are rules when a child is bargained to the Fae.As the children know, there are also ways around those rules.





	Rules and Their Loopholes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thecloserkin (tabacoychanel)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabacoychanel/gifts).

There are rules when someone gives their child to the Fae. The rules are there to ensure that nobody can ever reclaim anything taken by one of the Fae, even in cases of trickery and deceit.

The single most important rule, and the one that causes the most trouble, is the rule that a person can never call the child theirs again. The second most important rule is that it is titles and names that are the important part. The Fae adore loopholes for themselves and leave them in their rules for their own use. 

A few brave people attempt to claim their children back and hide the role they have, sending the child to live with relatives or regulating them to the role of servant. This seldom works the way they expected - children have a tendency to figure out the things others least want them to, and the second the child names the relationship in the way a Fae considers to be that of a child to their parent, the child is reclaimed by the Fae and whisked away to never be seen again.

If, however, a person is knowledgeable enough about the Fae to see their love of loopholes for what it is, the possibility of escape becomes greater.

It was this last opportunity that Jackie had taken, the second she was old enough to leave the Fae behind. Time passes differently Underhill, and so she stepped out of it and walked into a town where the latest gossip was about how Ms. Elizabeth still had not recovered from the time when her daughter had been given away. Her father was looking for someone to stay with his daughter, who was obsessed with the Fae after the loss.

“I would like the job looking after your daughter,” Jackie said after tracking him down. Jackie thought he seemed cruel when he looked at her, glancing as though she was nothing more than a particular inconvenience he only dealt with because the alternative was dealing with another, bigger inconvenience. That was good. That made it easier to not think of him in ways she knew she could not.  


He looked her over. “Are you new to the town? I’ve never seen you around before, and we don't have many people come visit here.”

Jackie smiled. “I lived here briefly as a baby, but left while I was still young. I thought to come back and see if I could make a new start, now that I am ready to be on my own.”

He looked at her for a moment, before he finally shrugged. “If you want to move in and take care of her, be my guest. Free room and board, pay do be determined after I see how you deal with her. Do your best to keep her there, I don't want to deal with any problems again."

“Thank you, sir. I promise you, I will do my best," Jackie said. She kept a smile on her face until she had collected the key to the house from him and walked away, abruptly dropping it as soon as she was out of sight.

'I will be there soon,' she thought, 'and he will not have any say in what we do afterwards. I know more than he does of the tricks of the Fae, and I have more money I took from them than he will ever see in his life. I just need to convince her to be my lover, and we can call each other family without worry.'

She inhaled deeply as she reached the house.

Elizabeth was lying on the couch next to a stack of books when Jackie walked into the house.

“Hello,” Jackie said, placing a book on the table she had brought from Underhill. “Your father hired me to look after you.”

Elizabeth burst out laughing.

“He’s the entire reason for this mess in the first place. I wouldn’t have had to bargain my daughter away if he hadn’t been so stubborn,” Elizabeth said. “I don’t really care what he asked for. Leave and let me read in peace”

“No, but you do care to find out more about the Fae, don’t you?” Jackie looked at her, gesturing at the book. "You have a copy of this same book that you read at night, trying to figure out how you can reclaim her without breaking the rules."

Elizabeth froze. “What do you know about them and how do you know that?”

“I know they took your daughter. I know you can’t get her back as a daughter.I know you thought about how it only prohibits the same relationship, not different ones. I know that time passes differently there and that somebody given to them as a baby may come back already grown,” Jackie responded. "I know you have the book because Underhill records everyone who reads it."

“You-” Elizabeth said, recognition dawning on her face.

“Don’t say it. I am not to be named your daughter, no matter who I was before.” Jackie leaned forward. “That doesn’t mean we can’t still be family, only that you cannot name me as such.”

“What are you proposing?” Elizabeth asked, sitting forwards.

“Let me stay here for a while and get to know you, then you can come with me. I have as much money as I could carry from Underhill. We can live together and love each other,” Jackie said. "Nobody would be able to keep us from one another. We appear close enough in age that no one would question us being girlfriends."  


“If anyone were to find out...” Elizabeth said.

“Who would even think of it as a possibility that I would be her and your lover?” Jackie laughed. “You cannot tell me you haven’t thought of it as a possibility.”

“I did, but I thought it would be a few years before it was possible,” Elizabeth slowly said.

“Time moves differently down there.” Jackie motioned to the couch. “May I sit with you?”

“And do what?”

“Plan our escape. Make it appear I’m doing what I told your father I would do.Kiss you, if you’re willing. Just call me by a term and act in a way they cannot consider breaking their rules,” Jackie said desperately. "This will only work if we follow their rules. I do not want to go back. I want to stay with you, no matter what we have to do." 

Elizabeth took a deep breath before nodding. “You may do all of that, lover. Then you should come to my bedroom with me while I find a ring for you to wear. We should bind ourselves together in a way they cannot dispute as soon as possible."

Jackie took a seat and kissed her.

Outside the window, a fairy stomped their foot before heading back Underhill.


End file.
